Hi jaywill -- it's always a pleasure to read your posts.
jaywill writes:
I think we are dealing with a very profound Being. And the unvieling of different aspects of His nature is progressive.
I wonder... does this imply that it is inappropriate to use the term "omniscient" -- in an absolute sense -- to describe God? Would you consider it more appropriate to use the term in a more "relative" sense (something to the effect of: "compared to mankind, God knows so much more as to seem omniscient")?
Perhaps unrelated, but interesting to me: in using a description like "the progressive unveiling of ... His nature", which of the following would you say is progressive?
- Each individual's personal understanding of this Being
- The description(s) of this Being as revealed in the temporal sequence of biblical texts
- The Being Himself (i.e. the nature of God may have been different in some sense, depending on when/by whom He was being considered
- Any combination of two or more of the above
Your way of reading the bible is of course different from that of anyone who does not believe in the God of Abraham and of the Apostles (such as myself). Your approach to interpreting the text would seem to me to be an ongoing attempt to reconcile the various scriptural depictions into a single coherent entity that you believe surely exists (perhaps because you somehow directly sense its presence), that you choose to worship, and that you feel is the sole provider of tangible and essential benefits for you, and is even aware of (even knows) you as an individual.
In contrast, my interpretation of the text is simply an attempt to understand the thoughts and concerns of the people who wrote the text; I have no personal investment or expectations regarding its "factual" value. To me, it is mythology.
In any case, I think the OP topic might be better served -- even though this might not have been Blzebub's intention -- if you would try to answer this question: Based on your current belief and understanding, do you think God knows the choices you will make in your life, before you make those choices?
If you say "yes", that constitutes absolute omniscience, and it poses a number of logical difficulties (free will, mercy, and so on). On the other hand, if you say "no", perhaps that constitutes an untenable degree of ignorance on His part. If you say "it depends", then perhaps this makes God out to be not all that different from people in this respect -- sometimes we can tell what other people are going to do before they do it, and other times we can't.
If you say "I really don't know", then the next place to go might be to wonder where this notion of omniscience comes from, and how important is it, really? Given that some believers tend to speak often of God's omniscience -- of things being pre-ordained or pre-destined -- is this something that all believers should accept in the same way? Does it matter to you, and how so (or why not)?
Edited by Otto Tellick, : fixed silly typo
autotelic adj. (of an entity or event) having within itself the purpose of its existence or happening.
™ Version 4.2
